System and method for creation, distribution and tracking of advertising via electronic networks

Abstract

A system and method for creation, distribution and tracking of advertising via electronic networks, enabling creation of advertisements using licensed third party content and placement of said ads at desired network locations, utilizing an auction of ad spaces based on bids placed by advertisers to have their ads displayed at such locations. When a network user/ad viewer requests an ad by clicking or other action, an auction algorithm executes to select the ad to be displayed from those that bid for display at such ad space location and then the ad is composed and delivered to the ad space location by accessing a relational database storing commands that retrieve, assemble and dispatch the licensed ad content. Usage and display of licensed content on designated ad space is tracked to enable cost-per-use charging for both use of licensed content and ad display at the designated ad space.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system comprising:
 a database configured to store a plurality of records comprising:
 one or more commands for retrieving one or more of a plurality of electronic content files designated by one or more advertiser users; 
 one or more commands for assembling and presenting the one or more designated electronic content files as an advertisement at one or more of a plurality of webpages; and 
 one or more parameters for presentation of the advertisement at the one or more webpages; and 
 
 one or more computing systems operable to:
 generate, in response to one or more options selected by a particular one of the one or more advertiser users in a user interface, first code for placement at a particular one of the one or more webpages, the first code written to cause a billboard module to be loaded when the particular webpage is loaded, the billboard module comprising second code written to:
 communicate, over one or more computer networks, with the one or more computing systems; and 
 retrieve and display one or more advertisements on the particular webpage; 
 
 select, in response to a communication from the billboard module over the one or more computer networks, a subset of the plurality of records, the selection based at least in part on one or more keywords in the communication from the billboard module; 
 after selecting the subset of the plurality of records based at least in part on the one or more keywords in the communication from the billboard module, conduct an auction to select a winning advertisement from the selected subset of records; and 
 provide instructions to the billboard module for the billboard module to retrieve the winning advertisement and present the winning advertisement in an area on the particular webpage designated by the billboard module. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the billboard module is operable to transmit one or more messages to the one or more computing systems over the one or more computer networks, the messages comprising one or more of:
 tracking data pertaining to advertisement presentation; 
 usage of the retrieved winning advertisement; 
 usage of a particular webpage for presentation of the winning advertisement; and 
 an advertisement viewer's activity with respect to the winning advertisement; and 
 
 the billboard module utilizes file server direct connection in transmitting the messages. 
 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , the one or more computing systems further operable to:
 permit the advertiser users to upload product and services information; and 
 conduct e-commerce transactions involving purchase of the products or services from the advertiser users in response to an advertisement of the advertiser users. 
 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise one or more of:
 an advertisement audience geographic location; 
 an advertisement audience demographic category; 
 a webpage subject matter category; 
 a topic keyword; 
 a content file usage cost; 
 a webpage usage cost; 
 a webpage payment option; 
 an advertisement click-through destination; 
 advertisement presentation space dimensions; 
 a click-through rate; 
 a display region; and 
 an advertisement type. 
 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more computing systems comprise an algorithm operable to select the winning advertisement based on a plurality of advertiser user bids for placement of the advertiser users' advertisements at the plurality of webpages. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more computing systems comprise a dispatcher server and a tracking server. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer networks comprises the Internet. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer networks comprises a cable communications network. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer networks comprises a cellular communications network. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer networks comprises a satellite communications network. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer networks comprises a combination of two or more networks selected from the group consisting of local area computer networks, wide area computer networks, the Internet, cable communications networks, satellite communications networks, television frequency networks, radio frequency communications networks, and cellular communications networks. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the billboard module is activated by an access to the particular webpage wherein the billboard module is placed. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the billboard module is activated by a click on a link at the particular webpage wherein the billboard module is placed. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the billboard module is activated by a click on a symbol at the particular webpage the billboard module is placed. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the billboard module is activated by entering a term as a query on a search engine, the billboard module being placed at the search engine. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 5 , wherein each advertiser user bid comprises a total bid covering a fee for use of the one or more electronic content files and a fee for use of the one or more webpages. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of webpages are operable to be displayed on a wireless mobile device display screen. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 1 , the one or more computing systems further operable to provide one or more user interfaces operable to:
 permit the one or more advertiser users to:
 select the one or more electronic content files; 
 provide customized text content to be presented in the advertisement; and 
 designate the one or more webpages and the one or more parameters for presentation of the advertisement at the one or more designated webpages; and 
 
 permit one or more webpage providers to make available one or more of the plurality of webpages for presentation of advertisements. 
 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 1 , the one or more computing systems further operable to:
 calculate one or more fees associated with use of the electronic content files and of the webpages; 
 bill the advertiser users for use of the electronic content files; 
 bill the advertiser users for presentation of the electronic content files at the one or more webpages; 
 provide payment to one or more content licensors for use of the electronic content files; and 
 provide payment to one or more webpage providers providing for use of the webpages. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the billboard module is further operable to:
 designate the area for the displayed advertisement; 
 retrieve the one or more of the plurality of electronic content files associated with the particular record; and 
 display the retrieved one or more of the plurality of electronic content files associated with the particular record. 
 
     
     
       21. The system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the communication from the billboard module comprises one or more of:
 one or more categories; and 
 dimension of the designated area for the displayed advertisement. 
 
 
     
     
       22. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions provided to the billboard module for the billboard module to retrieve and present the winning advertisement comprises instructions stored in a record of the subset of records associated with the winning advertisement. 
     
     
       23. A method comprising:
 receiving a designation of one or more content files stored in a content server, the one or more content files made available for use in creating an advertisement; 
 receiving one or more parameters for presentation of the advertisement; 
 receiving a designation of one or more of a plurality of webpages for presentation of the advertisement; 
 storing a plurality of records in a database, a particular record comprising:
 a network address of the designated one or more webpages; 
 a server location address for the designated one or more content files; and 
 one or more advertisement parameters and tracking parameters; 
 
 generating, in response to one or more options selected by an advertiser user in a user interface, first code for placement at a particular webpage, the first code written to cause a billboard module to be loaded when the particular webpage is loaded, the billboard module comprising second code written to:
 communicate, over one or more computer networks, with one or more computing systems; and 
 retrieve and display one or more advertisements on the particular webpage; 
 
 selecting, based on a communication from the billboard module over the one or more computer networks, a subset of the plurality of records, the selection based at least in part on one or more keywords in the communication from the billboard module; 
 after selecting the subset of the plurality of records based at least in part on the one or more keywords in the communication from the billboard module, conducting an auction to select a winning advertisement from the selected subset of records; and 
 providing one or more instructions to the billboard module for the billboard module to retrieve and present the winning advertisement within a space on the particular webpage designated by the billboard module. 
 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 23 , further comprising storing in the particular record one or more of:
 one or more keyword terms; 
 a cost for use of the one or more content files; 
 a cost for use of the one or more webpages; and 
 one or more commands for retrieving, assembling, and presenting the one or more content files and customized text content as an advertisement. 
 
     
     
       25. The method of  claim 23 , wherein the one or more advertisement parameters comprise one or more of the following parameters: an advertisement audience geographic location, an advertisement audience demographic category, a webpage subject matter category, a topic keyword, a bid of a system advertiser for presentation of an advertisement of the system advertiser, a content file usage cost, a webpage usage cost, a webpage payment option, an advertisement click-through destination, advertisement presentation space dimensions, a click-through rate, and a presentation region and advertisement type. 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 23 , wherein selecting the winning advertisement is based on advertiser user bids. 
     
     
       27. The method of  claim 23 , wherein the billboard module is activated by an access to the particular webpage wherein the billboard module is placed. 
     
     
       28. The method of  claim 23  wherein the billboard module is activated by a click on a link on the particular webpage wherein the billboard module is placed. 
     
     
       29. The method of  claim 23 , wherein the billboard module is activated by a click on a symbol at the particular webpage the billboard module is placed. 
     
     
       30. The method of  claim 23  wherein the billboard module is activated by entering a term as a query on a search engine, the billboard module being placed at the search engine. 
     
     
       31. The method of  claim 26 , wherein each bid comprises a total bid covering a fee for use of the one or more electronic content files and a fee for use of the one or more webpages. 
     
     
       32. The method of  claim 23 , wherein at least one of the plurality of webpages are operable to be displayed on a wireless mobile device display screen. 
     
     
       33. A system comprising:
 a system-end computer communicatively coupled with one or more electronic content servers and one or more computer networks, the one or more electronic content servers having stored thereon a plurality of content files; 
 a dispatcher server communicatively coupled with the system-end computer and one or more webpages on the one or more computer networks; 
 a database operable to store one or more records comprising:
 commands for retrieving from the one or more electronic content servers one or more of the plurality of content files designated by a system advertiser user; 
 one or more commands for presenting the one or more content files as an advertisement; and 
 one or more parameters for presentation of the advertisement at one or more of the webpages; 
 
 wherein the dispatcher server is operable to:
 generate, in response to one or more options selected by the system advertiser user in a user interface, first code for placement at the one or more webpages, the first code written to cause a billboard module to be loaded when a particular webpage is loaded, the billboard module comprising second code written to:
 communicate, over the one or more computer networks, with the dispatcher server; and 
 retrieve and display one or more advertisements on the particular webpage; 
 
 select, in response to a communication from the billboard module, a subset of the records, the selection based at least in part on one or more keywords in the communication from the billboard module; 
 after selecting the subset of the plurality of records based at least in part on the one or more keywords in the communication from the billboard module, conduct an auction to select a winning advertisement from the selected subset of records; and 
 provide instructions to the billboard module for the billboard module to retrieve winning advertisement and present the winning advertisement in an area on the particular webpage designated by the billboard module. 
 
 
     
     
       34. The system of  claim 33 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise one or more of the following parameters: an advertisement audience geographic location, an advertisement audience demographic category, a webpage subject matter category, a topic keyword, a bid of a system advertiser for presentation of an advertisement of the system advertiser, a content file usage cost, a webpage usage cost, a webpage payment option, an advertisement click-through destination, advertisement presentation space dimensions, a click-through rate, and a presentation region and advertisement type. 
     
     
       35. The system of  claim 33 , wherein the dispatcher server selects the winning advertisement based on system advertiser user bids. 
     
     
       36. The system of  claim 33 , wherein the one or more computer networks comprises the Internet. 
     
     
       37. The system of  claim 33 , wherein the one or more computer networks comprises a cable communications network. 
     
     
       38. The system of  claim 33  wherein the one or more computer networks comprises a cellular communications network. 
     
     
       39. The system of  claim 33 , wherein the one or more computer networks comprises a combination of two or more networks selected from the group consisting of local area computer networks, wide area computer networks, the Internet, cable communications networks, satellite communications networks, television frequency networks, radio frequency communications networks, and cellular communications networks. 
     
     
       40. The system of  claim 33 , wherein the dispatcher server is also the tracking server. 
     
     
       41. The system of  claim 35 , wherein each bid comprises a total bid covering a fee for use of the one or more electronic content files and a fee for use of the one or more webpages. 
     
     
       42. The system of  claim 33 , wherein at least one of the plurality of webpages are operable to be displayed on a wireless mobile device display screen.